tir-

watch, watch over, guard, heed

tir- vb. "watch, watch over, guard, heed", 1st pers. aorist tirin "I watch", pa.t. tirnë (TIR), imperative tira (VT47:31) or á tirë (PE17:94), future tense tiruva "shall heed" in Markirya (also MC:213, 214); also in CO with pronominal endings: tiruvantes "they will guard it" (tir-uva-nte-s "guard-will-they-it"). The stem also occurs in palantíri (q.v.), Tirion place-name "Great Watchtower", a city of the Elves (SA:tir; in MR:176 the translation is "Watchful City")

tir-

verb. to watch (over), guard, heed; to look (at), gaze, observe, to watch (over), guard, heed; to look (at), gaze, observe; [ᴱQ.] to keep, preserve

Derivations

• √TIR “watch (over), look at, observe, gaze at, watch (over), look at, observe, gaze at; [ᴹ√] guard” ✧ PE22/155; SA/tir

Element in

• Q. á tirë antírië “watch more closely, observe more attentively” ✧ PE17/094; PE17/094
• Q. Elentir “*Star-gazer”
• ᴺQ. ettir- “to watch out, spy on”
• ᴺQ. ettirno “spy”
• ᴺQ. fennatir “door-watcher”
• Q. Hyarmentir “*South Watch”
• Q. man tiruva fána cirya? “Who shall heed a white ship?” ✧ MC/222
• Q. man tiruva rácina cirya? “Who shall heed a broken ship?” ✧ MC/222
• Q. Minastir “?Watch Tower”
• Q. nai tiruvantes i hárar mahalmassen mi Númen “in the keeping of those who sit upon thrones of the West” ✧ UT/305
• Q. nattir- “to look back”
• Q. Palantir “Far-sighted”
• Q. palantir- “to watch/look afar” ✧ PE17/086
• Q. palantír “far-gazer, far-seer, (lit.) that which looks far away” ✧ PE17/025
• Q. tirila “watching (something)” ✧ PE22/155
• ᴺQ. tirmen “theater”

Phonetic Developments

Development	Stages	Sources
√TIR > tirila	[tinwe]	✧ PE22/155
√tir > tir	[tinwe]	✧ SA/tir

Variations

• tir ✧ SA/tir

tiris

watch, vigil

tiris (tiriss-), also tirissë, noun "watch, vigil" (LT1:258, QL:93)

cenda-

watch

cenda- vb. "watch" (not "guard", but observe to gain information), also used = "read". Cenda = also noun "reading", as in sanwecenda "thought-inspection, thought-reading". (VT41:5, PE17:156)

tirith

noun. watch, guard (abstract noun), vigilance

tirith

watch

{1st ĭ}_n._watch, ward, guard. >> tíria, Minas Tirith

tir-

watch

(cited in the form tiri, a ”Noldorin” infinitive in -i) (i dîr, i thirir) (guard, gaze, look at, look towards). The imperative tiro and passive participle [t]irnen are attested, the latter in lenited form dirnen.

tir-

watch (over)

tir- (cited in the form tiri, a ”Noldorin” infinitive in -i) (i dîr, i thirir) (guard, gaze, look at, look towards). The imperative tiro and passive participle [t]irnen are attested, the latter in lenited form dirnen.

tiria

watch

1) tiria- (guard, gaze, look toward) (i diria, i thiriar). 2)

tiria

watch

(guard, gaze, look toward) (i diria, i thiriar).

tirith

watch, watching

(i dirith, o thirith) (guard, guarding, vigilance), no distinct pl. form except with article (i thirith)

tir

root. watch (over), look at, observe, gaze at, watch (over), look at, observe, gaze at; [ᴹ√] guard

Tolkien used the root √TIR for Elvish words for watching and looking throughout his life. The earliest manifestation of this root was in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s as ᴱ√TIRI “guard” (the gloss appeared under the entry for ᴱ√TIŘI) with derivatives like ᴱQ. tiri- “watch; keep, guard, preserve; look at, gaze at, observe” and ᴱQ. tirne “steadfast regard, stare” (QL/93). It also had derivatives in the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon such as G. tir- “look for, look out for, watch for, await, expect” and G. tirin “watch-tower, turret, tower” (GL/71). The Etymologies of the 1930s has ᴹ√TIR “watch, guard” with derivatives like ᴹQ. tir-/N. tir- “watch”, ᴹQ. tirion “watch-tower, tower” and N. tirith “watch, guard” (Ety/TIR). The root √TIR was mentioned regularly in Tolkien’s later writings with glosses like “watch, observe” (PE17/187), “to look at (towards), watch, watch over” (RGEO/65) or “look at (turn eyes to, keep eyes on, watch)” (PE22/155).

Derivatives

• ✶palantīrā̆ ✧ Let/427
  • Q. palantír “far-gazer, far-seer, (lit.) that which looks far away” ✧ Let/427
• √STIR “face”
  • ✶stīrē “face”
  • Q. -stir “face”
  • S. thîr “face, face, [N.] look, expression, countenance” ✧ VT41/10
  • Q. estirnë “brow”
  • ᴺS. thir- “to seem, appear, look”
• ✶tirlā “looking”
• Q. tir- “to watch (over), guard, heed; to look (at), gaze, observe, to watch (over), guard, heed; to look (at), gaze, observe; [ᴱQ.] to keep, preserve” ✧ PE22/155; SA/tir
• Q. tírima “able to be watched, observable” ✧ PE22/155
• ᴺQ. tiris “watch, vigil, ward”
• Q. tirítë “watchful, vigilant” ✧ PE22/155
• S. tir- “to look (towards), watch (over), guard, to look (towards), watch (over), guard; [G.] to look (out) for, watch for, await, expect” ✧ Let/427

Element in

• Q. Palantir “Far-sighted” ✧ SA/tir
• Q. palantír “far-gazer, far-seer, (lit.) that which looks far away” ✧ RGEO/65; SA/tir
• Q. Tirion “Great Watch-tower” ✧ SA/tir
• Q. tirion “watch-tower, watch-tower, tower, [ᴱQ.] (great or mighty) tower; city on a hill” ✧ RGEO/65
• ᴺQ. tirma “spyglass”
• ᴺQ. tirmë “steadfast regard, stare, *gaze”
• Q. tirmo “watcher”
• S. Minas Tirith “Tower of Guard, Tower of Watch” ✧ SA/tir
• S. tir- “to look (towards), watch (over), guard, to look (towards), watch (over), guard; [G.] to look (out) for, watch for, await, expect” ✧ RGEO/65
• S. tiria- “to watch, gaze; to ward, guard” ✧ RGEO/65
• S. tirith “watching, guarding, watch, ward, guard” ✧ SA/sîr; VT42/11

Variations

• tir ✧ SA/sîr; SA/tir
• tir- ✧ VT42/11

tir-

verb. to watch, to gaze, look at

tiria-

verb. to watch, to gaze, look at

tirith

noun. watch, guard (abstract noun), vigilance

tirith

noun. watch, guard

Cognates

• ᴹQ. tiriste “*watch, guard” ✧ PE22/125

Element in

• N. Minas Tirith “Tower of Guard” ✧ PE22/125
• N. Minnastirith “Watchtower” ✧ Ety/TIR

Variations

• Tirith ✧ PE22/125